


He's More My Co-pilot

by cecania



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-09
Updated: 2013-08-27
Packaged: 2017-12-22 23:04:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/919060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cecania/pseuds/cecania
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one shots about the Hansen family before and during the Kaiju War.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jaeger Crew

**Author's Note:**

> A little late to the party, but these are going to be written from the prompts of the Jaegercon bingo cards. I'm hoping this will get this out of my system, but I'm not setting my sights too high.

He heard the whispers as soon as he stepped into the Shatterdome. It was hard not to miss them especially since no one thought he was listening.

_“Kid’s only fifteen.”_

_“Are we really going to put him in this?”_

_“How can his father let him do this?”_

His psych evaluation said that he was angry, that he had something to prove and had no control over his temper. Because of that he knew he was being watched and if he screwed up, he wouldn’t get a second chance. But he had gotten here on his own and he wasn’t going to fail now. He wasn’t going to give in to the anger that burned inside him when he heard them link him to Hercules Hansen, the man who had piloted every Mark of jaeger they had.

He let it roll off of him as much as he was able and he silently vowed that he would show them all wrong. He knew what they were thinking, heard them at the table in the mess hall. The best jaeger in the world and they were going to let a kid pilot it? He wanted to shout that he wasn’t a kid, that he hadn’t been a kid in years, but that would just be proving their point. And he sure as shit wasn’t going to have his dad apologizing for him. There was nothing to apologize for.

When Striker Eureka finally rolled into her bay, Chuck was on one of the walkways, watching her with hungry eyes. This was his jaeger. This was the best jaeger and he was the best pilot. Despite the anger, he had completed all of the simulations with Herc and they were going to be testing in the actual jaeger today.

As usual, the whispers rose and fell from the crew. They had heard about the distance between the Hansens and they questioned whether they were the right pair to be piloting Striker. He would have said something sharp and to the point about that, but the Marshal was here and he had stomped down on that faster than Chuck had expected. Herc and Chuck had been chosen to pilot Striker Eureka and until they proved they were incapable of doing it, they were going to do it.

Hearing steps behind him, he half turned to see the lead tech walking toward him. His lip curled slightly, wondering what criticism he was going to face this time.

“Your drive suits are almost ready,” he said, joining him at the rail. “But yours is going to be a bitch because there’s no way you’re done growing.”

Chuck was slightly stunned at the choice of topic but he didn’t let it show. “That’s not my fault,” he snapped.

“Never said it was, Ranger. It’ll be a challenge because we’ve never had a pilot as young as you before so you’ll probably get scraped and rubbed raw in places you’d rather not along with all the other wonderful things puberty’s inflicting on you.”

Warily studying the other man, Chuck wondered what he was playing at. Whenever any of the other crew talked to him, it was usually like he was a child or with derision because why was he getting to pilot Striker.

He was silent for a long moment before he looked straight at Chuck. “A lot of the crews have money on this test,” he said shortly. “Most of them are betting that you won’t be able to pull past the issues you have with your dad.”

Chuck tensed right up but before he could even think of responding the tech kept talking.

“There’s a lot of people betting against you, Ranger, and even though the world is pulling together to fight a common threat, there’s still a lot of ugliness floating under our skin. Don’t give them the satisfaction of being right.”

“I’m not going to,” he barked. “This is what I was meant to do. This is what I’ve been trained to do. I’m not going to cock up just because some idiot doesn’t know how to shut his mouth.”

The tech smiled faintly and nodded. “Good. Come on. You need to get suited up.”

Chuck didn’t follow him immediately, wondering what the hell he had been trying to prove. And because he wasn’t going to jump every time someone else snapped their fingers at him. When he got to the prep room, he wasn’t surprised to see his old man there. Chuck’s spine straightened automatically even though Herc still had a good four inches on him and it would be a while before Chuck got there. But one day, he was going to surpass his dad and it started now.

He shucked his clothes for the circuit suit as quickly as he could before standing as still as he could manage as the rest of the suit was bolted and screwed into place. He had been fitted in it before to ensure that it would be right but even in the space of a week it was starting to feel tight in places. But he wasn’t going to bitch about it. Not today. There was more on the line than just whether he was going to be pinched and rubbed.

He could feel his dad’s eyes on him, weighing whether this was a good idea or not, but there was another set. Covertly glancing around, he saw the lead tech watching him even as he oversaw the final fittings of the drive suits. Chuck’s chin came up slightly and the man’s lips twitched before he motioned them both forward into the Conn-Pod.  
There was silence for once from the crew as they were locked into the rigs and Chuck wasn’t sure he liked it. It was easier to find the anger when he could hear what they were thinking. But none of them said anything nor made eye contact with him as they worked.

“Choi’s here to monitor the first run,” the lead tech said, checking over everything once more. “Him and the Marshal are up in LOCCENT and will be watching you under a microscope.”

Chuck didn’t say anything and neither did Herc. Neither of them had to because they both knew that pair wasn’t going to be watching the elder Hansen. He started slightly when something thumped his arm, glare in place as his head swung around.

The tech gave him a sharp smile. “Prove them wrong, Ranger,” he said shortly.

Again he didn’t respond but he straightened in the rig as the tech walked away. He listened as others sealed them into the Conn-Pod before the interior started really lighting up, screens and panels in far too many colours coming into view. Not only that, but views from outside, of the catwalks lined with jaeger crews bumping and jostling to see what the baby Ranger was going to do.

His lip curled again. Well, they were in for one hell of a show and he was going to make all of them choke on their words.

_“Hansens, neural handshake in fifteen seconds.”_


	2. Comfort Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things just don't change through the years and a man's love for a certain type of food is one of them.
> 
> Written for the Pre-canon prompt of Jaegercon's bingo card.

 

            There wasn’t a lot in the world to be happy about these days. Every day saw more and more kaiju coming through the Breach and it was getting harder and harder to bring them down. Jaegers were falling and rangers were dying. There were even rumours the PPDC was on its last legs, that funding would run out and everyone would be expected to hide behind a wall.

            But it didn’t bother Hercules Hansen the way it did others. He had seen enough, had done enough in his lifetime that he knew letting everything get to you was a bad idea. There were real, tangible things to worry about, not something that was out of your control. He knew where to put his focus.

            He also knew what mattered and where to find happiness. Some would think that because he was repeatedly in the Drift, constantly watching his memories flow past him that they would become old, stale. They were wrong. There were highlights and blips that caught his attention more than others but they all rolled over and past him. But some helped him stay strong and there were things that helped him remember outside of the Conn-Pod.

            There was always one thing though, one that always came through no matter how many times he Drifted.

            It had never come to him during the simulations, but then those weren’t real. There wasn’t the same rush of emotions and adrenaline that came from an actual fight when you were only sitting in a room. But after that first battle, the craving had hit hard and fast as soon as the neural handshake had disengaged. His stomach had felt barren and it had taken every ounce of control he had not to bolt out of the Conn-Pod. He’d had to wait as the drive suit had been removed and then the circuit below it. They’d wanted to debrief him, to check him for signs of damage, to analyze the fight, but he’d been starving. He’d been dismissed quickly enough and he’d bee-lined for the mess hall. It was only years of being in the RAAF that had kept him from sprinting through the Shatterdome.

            Sitting at a table, he’d let the memory wash over him, savouring the taste of mashed potatoes as much as his thoughts.

            He’d been six years old and visiting his gran. Scott had been inside taking a nap while Gran had taken him into the garden. He had loved visiting her because she was always full of stories about Grandpa and the veggies seemed like they were always ready to be eaten. But this time she’d given him a small shovel and they had dug up potatoes.

            He had stood on a stool to watch as she had peeled and boiled the potatoes. His giggles when he had been allowed to mash them had woken his brother. Scott hadn’t been nearly as impressed with the potatoes and had wanted to stand on Herc’s stool. He could almost hear his brother’s shrill protests when Gran said he could stand on his own stool. Gran had shaken her head when Herc had hopped off of his to let his brother stand on it.

            _“You’re too sweet for this world, Hercules,” she murmured, ruffling his hair. “But that caring heart of yours is the best part of you. Don’t you ever lose it. Don’t you let anyone take it from you.”_

            Herc had promised her but it had been the hardest promise he had ever had to keep. But he had tried and every time someone had put mashed potatoes in front of him it had reminded him of it for years to come. Memories faded eventually and even the warmth of Gran’s kitchen had dimmed until that first real Drift with his brother.

            Scott still hadn’t seemed as interested in the potatoes or the memory, but Herc didn’t care.

            The second Drift had been just as intense as the first but it had brought a different memory this time. The urge to run to the mess hall was dimmer this time, but it was still there. But he had taken the time to talk with his superiors, to listen to the feedback and the information from the techs. The whole time the memory hovered at the back of his mind, just waiting for him to come to it.

            The mess hall had been mostly empty as the crews had gone to work on the jaeger and he had been thankful for it. Because this memory, although just as cherished as the first, was one he wanted to relive alone.

_Soft laughter rippled over him, the sound of it as smooth as silk against his bare skin. He kept his eyes shut, just savouring the sound. “Are you serious?”_

_He shrugged. “Is it that ridiculous of an idea?”_

_“Not in the slightest. I’m just surprised that the only thing you care about is that we have mashed potatoes with the wedding dinner.”_

_He finally opened his eyes and looked over at his future wife. She was sitting beside him on the bed, a little notebook in her lap, a pen in hand and a bemused, loving smile on her face. “I don’t care about the little things, Angela,” he said quietly. “I want you to be happy on that day with whatever you want because if you’re happy then so am I.”_

_Her smile softened further and she tucked her pen inside the book before setting it aside. She stretched out beside him, cuddling up to him and resting her head on his shoulder. “I want you to be happy too so we’ll have mashed potatoes.”_

_He felt her fingers tracing over his chest but that wasn’t what he was focused on. “You think I’m being silly about it.”_

_“No,” she said, dragging out the word. “They’re your comfort food. Makes sense that you’d want them on a day most men are nervous.”_

_He dropped his chin and met dancing green eyes. “What?”_

_Her brows lifted as if in surprise. “You didn’t know that?” she asked._

_“How are they my comfort food?”_

_“Oh, Herc, you really never noticed?” Angela said, her voice full of laughter again. “Whenever you’re upset about something, it’s always straight to the mashed potatoes. You told me that your gran always made them for you when you went to see her and that they were always your favourite.”_

_He frowned. Had he? He couldn’t remember telling her that, but then again, she had a way of disarming him completely and he was sure he had told her more about his life than she had ever wanted to know. But since she had agreed to marry him, she obviously hadn’t minded that much._

            They had had mashed potatoes at the wedding and no one had questioned it. But he had seen the smile on Angela’s face at the sight of them on his plate even though she hadn’t said anything. From that moment on, he had never come home to not find potatoes in the cupboard because his wife knew him better than anyone else ever had and she wanted him to be happy too.

            It was always the same, Drift then crave mashed potatoes. No one else had seemed to realise why he ate them and he was fine with that. Angela should be the only one to actually figure it out. She had been his other half and no one should know him as well as she had.

            Then it had happened, that final Drift with his brother that had nearly claimed his life. He had been numb when they had gotten back to the Shatterdome, his emotions completely shut down so that he could do what he had to. He hadn’t thought about the memory that had come up as a result of the Drift, hadn’t gone to the mess hall. He had paced for hours once they had let him on his feet before he had made his decision.

            He had done wrong by some people, people who he should have only done right, but he wasn’t going to let the world suffer because he kept what he had seen to himself.

            There had been pain and questions, a never ending list of questions. Stacker had even flown in and while he was there as the Marshall, Herc was glad for his friend’s presence during this. When it was finally over, he had sat in his room and wondered if he had done the right thing. He only had so many family members left. Was pushing away the only one that actually talked to him a good idea?

            Before he could follow down that path too far, someone had knocked at his door. He hadn’t wanted to answer it, especially when he heard the jingle of a leash and collar he knew only too well. His body had ached as he pushed himself off of the bed and opened the door. Chuck and Max were gone, but there’d been a tray of food on the floor. Or rather a bit of food and a lot of mashed potatoes. He hadn’t questioned the order and had eaten them, remembering what he had been trying to forget.

            _He stood in front of the stove, slowly stirring the pot and watching the white pieces float through it. He should have been sleeping but his mind had been too messed up and his tossing and turning wasn’t good for Angela. It had taken all of five seconds for him to head into the kitchen and haul out the bag of potatoes after he had left their bed._

_It was a ridiculous thing to do in the middle of the night, but he needed it right now._

_This was supposed to be a happy time, something everyone was going to look forward to. And everyone had. His folks had been ecstatic at the thought of a grandchild and had pestered them for hours on whether it was a boy or girl. They hadn’t believed him when he’d said that they didn’t know, wouldn’t know until the baby was born. Angela’s parents had had the same reaction and it had been a good visit with all four of them. Talk of names and colouring and what they should buy to help get them ready for the baby-Were they sure they didn’t know if it was a boy or girl?-had come up and all of it had nearly made his head spin. Then Scott had walked in._

_Herc squeezed his eyes shut but kept stirring the pot. How his brother had turned out so differently than him, he would never know. But it didn’t make any sense, the way Scott viewed the world. Herc loved him because he was his little brother and they were family. He wished he could say the same about Scott. It felt like he was being used, that every time he saw his brother there was something else he wanted, something he wanted to wheedle out of his successful older brother. He didn’t seem to care that Herc was married now, that he was going to be starting a family. He wanted the spotlight in the Hansen family and seemed to think that Herc was always stealing it._

_Letting his head fall back, he stared at the ceiling. Scott hadn’t even been happy about being an uncle and Herc would have forgiven him for it, would have let it all slide if his brother had known how to shut his mouth. But no. He had run it like usual and instead of letting him get away with it like usual, Herc had lost his temper._

_Scott had walked away in one piece but that was only because their father had managed to haul Herc off of him and told him to get out of the house._

_He tensed when the light flicked on and looked over his shoulder. Angela was in the doorway, watching him with worried eyes. She had put a house robe on over her nightgown but hadn’t closed it so he could see how her stomach was swelling with their child. “I’m fine.”_

_“The potatoes say otherwise.”_

_Shaking his head, he held his hand out to her and pulled her good and close when she ducked under his arm. It was still too soon for him to feel their child move as her stomach pressed against his side, but he couldn’t wait for the day that he could feel those tiny movements. Kissing the top of her head, he said again, “I will be fine.”_

_She was quiet for a long moment before she sighed. “Did you make enough for three?” she teased, green eyes looking up at him lovingly._

            It would be a while before he drifted again, before he was paired up with his son as his co-pilot. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but he knew that he wasn’t going to let anyone else into a Conn-Pod with his sixteen year old son. Chuck had made his choice and Herc was going to support him the only way he could. The first few Drifts in simulation hadn’t been easy, but they had worked it out because this was the only way Chuck was going to be getting into Striker Eureka.

            The Drifts with Chuck hadn’t been any different than Scott in regards to the potatoes. After their first run in Striker, Herc had actually been surprised by Chuck plunking down beside him and filling his plate with the mashed fluff as well. He hadn’t said anything. He wasn’t sure where his son was at after the battle and if he needed this, then Herc wasn’t going to ruin it for him.

            It had amused him, however, and he had wondered if potatoes were going to be a Hansen comfort food no matter the generation. Because it certainly wouldn’t surprise him. He wasn’t sure if it was just major memories he was thinking of regarding the food or if it had been the fact that he had Drifted with his son, but Chuck was the focus of the memory that was rattling around Herc’s brain.

            They had been trying him out on solid foods and Angela had decided that they weren’t buying the store crap. She had a garden out back and the vegetables that came from there were better than any of the processed jars. He hadn’t argued with her, silently amused at the lioness his wife turned into when something regarding Charles came up. It was also a smart idea. A blender and containers to store the baby mush were a lot cheaper than buying glass jars every week.

            But the real entertainment came from actually trying to feed Charlie anything. He had asked his mom if he’d been as disagreeable about eating when he was a baby and she had only laughed. It hadn’t made him feel any better, but he wasn’t a quitter and neither was Angela. So Charlie was sat in his high chair every day and his mom made the most adorable noises to try to get him to open his mouth for the homemade food.

            Sometimes it went in, sometimes it wound up on his face. Then other times it didn’t end well at all. But through it all, Herc never laughed because he knew if he did then he would put on the other end of that spoon. He would do it when Angela was ready to throw her hands in the air in frustration, claiming it was the Hansen in her little Chas that made him so stubborn. He didn’t point out that Charlie was still more focused on a bottle than anything else and would simply take the spoon to attempt what she was doing.

            He couldn’t remember how long it had taken before they’d gotten to the potatoes and Herc wasn’t sure if he’d wanted to try them. Charlie really hadn’t taken to anything else and for how much he loved the vegetable, he didn’t want his son to spit them back out at him.

            Angela had run them through the blender before holding out the container to him. He had stared at it for a second before biting the bullet. It was his favourite so he got to feed it to Charlie. End of story.

            He could still see the look on her face when their fussy son hadn’t spit one ounce of it out. It was a blend of happiness and frustration only a parent could wear.

            _“Of course he likes potatoes,” she muttered as she took the container to the sink to wash it out even though Herc had scraped all of it out for the baby. “He’s your son. I don’t know why we didn’t try them in the first place.”_

_Herc didn’t say anything as he lifted Charlie out of the high chair, listening as his son cooed and made the happiest noises he’d ever heard. What was there to say?_

_She sighed before giving him a sunny smile. “Well, I guess we’re going to have to plant more potatoes if he keeps this up.”_

            It didn’t matter how many times he Drifted with his son, the craving always came back and at some point, Chuck wound up in the mess hall eating them as well. He got further away from his dad every time he ate, growing more into his own skin as the years went by. And he was more irritable about the lack of them as the war dragged on than even Herc was. Then again, Chuck didn’t know how to hold his tongue, but, unlike Scott, he didn’t blame anyone for what was happening. He just got grumpy. Grumpier, if Herc was honest with himself.

            The Shatterdome had closed, Mutavore had come and there had been another Drift without potatoes afterwards. But they were being shipped out to Hong Kong and he knew that that Shatterdome had no issues with getting their hands on things that the others couldn’t. He didn’t say anything about it because there was the possibility they wouldn’t be there, but he knew that one of the first things he was going to do when they got there was hit the mess hall and see if there were mashed potatoes there.

            There was only so long a man could go without his comfort food after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This kind of exploded on me. A friend wanted a story about Herc and mashed potatoes and then this happened. So this is another birthday story for her and a square fill at the same time. Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Jaeger Legends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can you imagine how hopeless and terrifying it would be to be in Sydney and watch Mutavore break through the wall, knowing that Striker Eureka had been decommissioned? 
> 
> Can you imagine how hard the people cried when they saw their Jaeger, their giant, metal guardian angel run through the streets anyway? 
> 
> Can you even begin to fathom what that meant to people?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The summary is actually from strikerurethra on tumblr and it completely inspired this chapter. Because really it's a brilliant question. I don't feel like I've done it justice but I tried.

 

            _The wall was deemed unbreachable._

            Keeping your eyes on your mobile, you scrolled through the news reports from earlier in the day. There really wasn’t anything interesting there. More propaganda about the massive eyesore circling the ocean. Sydney was safe now. The wall was finished and no kaiju could ever get through. There wasn’t any need for the jaeger sitting inside the Shatterdome, draining tax payers’ dollars when it didn’t need to be.

            You paused at a street corner, your thumb hovering over the link in the article that would take you to all the information out there about Herc and Chuck Hansen.  You’d read it all before, hundreds of times if you were actually honest with yourself, but there was always that drive to read it one more time. There might have been something you missed there.

            You tapped the link before following the crowd through the crosswalk. You waited for the page to load, watching the people that passed you by. A part of you just really wanted to bump into the other pedestrians and stare at your phone. But you knew that if you did that you’d be the jerk so you dodged and weaved around them. It wasn’t that far to the other sidewalk and if the people didn’t get you, a stray car might.

            Once you were on the sidewalk, you lifted your phone again and flipped through the information you could see there. It was all old, highlights of what kaiju they’d fought, their deployments, little things that people had found out through digging far too deep. As soon as you set foot in a jaeger your life seemed to become public knowledge and everyone wanted to know everything about you. They thought it was their right, but there really wasn’t anything new. You were just about to close it all, to look for something else when you saw a note at the end.

            Stopping abruptly, you heard several people muttering as they had to go around you but it didn’t register. All you could do was stare at the words as they didn’t make any sense to you.

            _“As of December 26 th, 2024, the Mark V jaeger, Striker Eureka, has been decommissioned by the government of Australia and will be deployed to the Hong Kong Shatterdome immediately.”_

Blinking slowly, you mouthed the words as you read them again, hoping that they would make sense this time. They didn’t and even the third time it didn’t compute. Your gaze lifted to stare at the wall in the distance. It was the greatest eyesore you’d ever seen, but that was where the government had thrown all of their time and money and hopes into. Although, you’d heard rumours that there weren’t any officials in Sydney anymore, that they’d moved inland even though the Wall of Life was what would save the world.

            Made a person wonder if the wall was really all that safe.

            _The wall was deemed unbreachable._

            You read the line one more time before tucking your phone in your pocket. Decommissioning a jaeger? Shutting down a Shatterdome? It didn’t seem right. Yeah, you had read about how so many jaeger had been lost this past year, but how was hiding the solution? How was taking away the only weapons mankind had a good idea? “Politics,” you muttered, slipping your hands into your pockets and walking again.

            The jaeger had always been the hope. Everyone had put all of their hopes on them and their pilots. It was nearly impossible to point at anyone in a crowd and find someone who didn’t know the name of at least one team of co-pilots. Most everyone knew all of the names, even the crews that had fallen over the years. The politicians were trying to tell the populace that they were just humans, that they were just people in giant robots, but really? They were heroes. They were _legends_. Every time they went out to fight a kaiju, it could be their last, but they went anyway.

            Jaeger pilots were the cream of the crop when it came to the human race and the politicians didn’t like that so they were sidelining them to hide behind a wall.

            You felt your mobile buzz against your hand, but you didn’t pull it out right away. There wasn’t really any place to stop to look at it and it couldn’t be that important. You were probably running late, again, and someone was pointing the finger, saying you were going to be the one to pay for lunch, again.

            When it went off again, you pulled it out with a snarl before it froze on your face as you saw that it wasn’t someone complaining about you being late.

            _A kaiju is attacking the city!_

_A KAIJU IS BREAKING THROUGH THE WALL!!_

            Once again you were standing in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at your phone. Your fingers were shaking as you flipped it on its side to message back. _That isn’t funny._ It had to be a joke. There was no way that a kaiju would be breaking through the wall. It just couldn’t be. It was too horrific to even think about and if this was your friends’ idea of a joke, you were going to shove their face into something hard.

You tried to control your breathing, straining your ears to try to hear something that would lend credibility to what had been sent to you. It couldn’t be real. It just couldn’t be. The wall was supposed to keep you safe and _they had decommissioned the only jaeger in the country._

            All that came back to you was a link and you hesitated to click it. You knew that not clicking it wouldn’t change anything. If there was or wasn’t an attack, touching that link wouldn’t change that fact. But it would change you. Just as your thumb hit it, you heard it. It was a sound that curdled the blood and turned bowels to jelly.

            A kaiju screech.

            _The wall was deemed unbreachable._

            Your gaze lifted to stare in horror as you saw the wall give way, the head of the kaiju pushing through. You were far enough away that you couldn’t make out anything specific about it but that didn’t matter. All that did matter was that it was a kaiju and that it had gotten through the one thing the government had said would keep you safe.

            And there was no jaeger to meet it.

            Your heart was pounding in your ears as the sirens started blaring through the streets and screams of horror broke out. You heard a shout about the bunkers and you wondered if they were even still functioning. The wall was supposed to keep the world safe so would the shelters still be operational?

            When was the last time a kaiju had gotten so close to a city? You didn’t know why but it was the only thing your mind could think of. The jaeger, the inefficient means so says the government, had kept the kaiju from reaching populated areas, had kept the battles to the waters where the lives lost would be minimal. They had kept the cities, the _people_ , safe and how had they been repaid? Decommissioned and shipped to Hong Kong.

            What was the government going to do? The last time this had happened, you’d only been a child, hadn’t even been living in Sydney, but you’d seen the damage. They had nuked the city. It had been an- _mostly_ -evacuated area, but they had still dropped a nuclear bomb on it to stop the kaiju. Were they going to do it again? They had decommissioned Striker Eureka. They didn’t have any other options. Were they going to sacrifice Sydney and all of her people to save the world?

            A broken laugh left you. Of course they would. They’d moved inland. It was no skin off of their backs that they would lose this city. And there was no way they’d ever admit to being wrong about the wall.

            _The wall was deemed unbreachable._

            People were scrambling around you, but your feet were rooted to the spot. What was the point? The kaiju was already through the wall and heading straight for the city. The shelters weren’t designed to survive a nuclear blast. They were all going to die because the people in charge had put their faith in a wall that had failed.

            Tearing your eyes away from the advancing kaiju, you looked down at your phone and quickly called up your mother’s number. You only texted three words, three words you really should have said more, but they were all you could offer right now. At least she wasn’t in the city, the rest of your family safe from what was going to devastate Sydney. There was nothing else you could do but send those three words to her.

            _I love you._

            You squeezed your eyes shut and wished you could have seen them one last time. You were supposed to have gone home last week but you’d put it off because you’d had time. There was always another day to visit. Now you were out of time and-

            Your head snapped up when you heard it. The kaiju was still roaring in the-not far enough-distance, but over that there was another noise, the sound of impossibly heavy steps on concrete. Swilling on the spot, you stared as you saw Striker Eureka moving through the streets, heading straight toward the kaiju. Your hands started shaking so bad your phone slipped from them to crack on the pavement and you didn’t even care.

            _The wall was deemed unbreachable._

            The jaeger was decommissioned. Rangers Herc and Chuck Hansen were supposed to be going to Hong Kong. Australia, the government at least, had said they didn’t need Striker Eureka anymore. They had the wall and the Mark V wasn’t necessary. But she was running through the streets to meet the kaiju that had smashed through the Wall of Life.

            The entire world fell away around you as you watched the jaeger battle the destructive force that had come from another world. You could barely see anything as they raged between buildings, but you could feel the blows in the ground, how it rumbled and shook under your feet. You couldn’t have been the only one who had stopped to watch, but you felt like you were alone as you watched the jaeger that had stood guard over the country and her Pacific neighbours for so many years. All that mattered was the glorious mech that had come to the rescue of the people even though the government had told the Shatterdome that they weren’t needed anymore.

            Jaeger legends. It didn’t matter what anyone else said about them. The father and son that were inside Striker Eureka were legends. They had been told that they weren’t necessary, that they had to leave. But they had still climbed into the jaeger to defend a city that would have been completely lost otherwise.

            A grin stretched your face even as tears tracked down your cheeks. Your scream of victory wasn’t the only one that echoed in your ears when Striker Eureka unleashed the missiles tucked inside her chest and the kaiju dropped. The ground leaped and shuddered under you but you didn’t care.

            _The wall was deemed unbreachable._

            This was the only proof the people of the world were going to need to see what the politicians couldn’t or refused to. The jaeger and their pilots were guardians for mankind and no wall would ever be able to replace them.


End file.
